ISES is Closing on Friday at 8 AM

PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THIS MESSAGE TO ALL DISTRICT STAFF WORKING IN WSLS or ISES

This email message is being sent to all WSLS/ISES Administrators and WSLS/ISES Assistant Administrators in districts that have not yet locked their ISES data. Note that final ISES data were due on March 13. ISES has remained open over the past few weeks to help your district finish the submission process. We appreciate your continued efforts to complete the work. Progress has been made.

We plan to close ISES for this collection year on Friday, April 14, at 8 AM. If your district has no errors or unacknowledged warnings, and if you believe your ISES data are final, then please lock your data now. Otherwise please check your ISES reports and fix any data issues they raise before Friday morning.

Your data as of Friday morning will be considered final whether or not you correct or lock your data. Your missing/invalid data, if any, are documented in the ISES error reports for your district. Please give priority to fixing remaining errors tomorrow. If your district has no errors then your data will be reported as they existed on Friday morning. If your district has missing or invalid data when ISES closes, then DPI will insert estimated values or codes in affected records as necessary to complete the reporting process.

See below for examples of how estimates will be made. We've included in parenthesis the number of affected districts based on the most recent ISES status reports.

• Economically Disadvantaged, Primary Disability, and English Language Proficiency. If data in these fields are missing or invalid then they will be replaced with the most common code used for these data elements. (A few records in 4 districts and almost 200 records in one district)
• Days of Attendance. If data for this field are missing, then 0 will be inserted in affected records. (A few records in 3 districts and almost 200 records in one district)
• Exit Information. Missing or invalid Exit Types will be changed to ODO. (A few records in 7 districts and 10 records in 2 districts)

Estimated data may not reflect reality so estimation is not the preferred solution to filling data gaps. Reported dropout rates may be too high and reported graduation and attendance rates may be too low. Complete and accurate ISES data are critical to making reliable accountability decisions. Final ISES data will also be used for the 2004-05 School Performance Report (attendance, retention, dropout, graduation rates), 2005-06 3rd Friday September enrollment reporting, and other public reporting, monitoring, and school improvement planning purposes.

An email outlining the consequences of failure to review specific errors and warnings was sent to WSLS/ISES Administrators in March (http://dpi.wi.gov/lbstat/esea030906.html) Districts are also strongly encouraged to review their ISES progress and summary reports because ISES-generated errors and warnings cannot identify all possible district data issues and because these reports provide a preview of draft public reports based on the data you have submitted so far.

We are anxious to help your district have the best ISES data possible. Please do not hesitate to contact the WSLS/ISES helpdesk if you have questions or concerns, 800-507-5744 or dpistats@dpi.wi.gov.

cc:	DPI list of vendors with active district technology contracts
	State Superintendent's Education Data Advisory Committee
	CESA School Improvement Services Directors

Submit questions, comments, and suggestions about the WSLS or ISES to dpistats@dpi.wi.gov or call 1-800-507-5744.

Submit questions regarding the ESEA Report Card Requirements to dpieseadata@dpi.wi.gov.

For help with this page contact the DPI Helpdesk Expert

Last updated on 2/28/2008 7:56:00 AM